Open House Demonstrates Integration of MIS and Post-Press Systems

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Press release from the issuing company

ASHLAND, NY -- HIFLEX, the global MIS and Web2Print solutions provider and leader in JDF integration and workflow, participated in an open house at Muller Martini's North American headquarters in Hauppauge, New York on June 23rd, 2009. The event was attended by dozens of prospects, editors and educators from throughout the industry. Also participating in the open house was SoftSolutions of Roanoke, Virginia.

HIFLEX and SoftSolutions, along with their host Muller Martini, the world pacesetter in print finishing innovations, have collaborated and successfully presented a new benchmark in digital workflow.

The test configuration included Muller Martini finishing equipment and Muller's CONNEX digital workflow system along with HIFLEX's MIS business automation systems and SoftSolutions' FLEX-OS data integration platform. For this particular demonstration, a Muller Martini Primera E140 saddle stitcher was used. Jobs were created in HIFLEX MIS and a JDF file was sent over to the E140 saddle stitcher where the JDF file was consumed and used to perform staggering, automated machine make-readies in less than 15 minutes. Average make-readies for traditional equipment are approximately 88 minutes. The full digital JDF workflow can be implemented on virtually all new and many legacy Muller Martini print finishing machines.

Gary E. Marron, President and CEO of HIFLEX Corporation of North America, commented: "It is very gratifying for HIFLEX to participate in this demonstration and to witness prospects and editors who easily understood the benefits of this new technology and how it will save printers money. We're extremely excited about this strategic initiative between Muller Martini, SoftSolutions and HIFLEX. The automated digital workflow solution that we have created as a team provides a mechanism for true JDF integration adhering to an open standard, effectively eliminating the 'islands' that exist between administration, estimating, order entry and production. This results in enhanced functionality and higher profit potential for printing and binding companies."

"The return on investment that can be achieved across the board by employing automation in printing workflow is very dramatic. This configuration highlights the savings that can be realized in the print finishing category," Marron continued.

"Muller Martini recognizes the importance of the growing need for workflow throughout the entire production floor, including the bindery," stated Werner Naegeli, President/CEO of Muller Martini Corp. "The collaboration with HIFLEX and SoftSolutions to create an open architecture system to offer our customers was a key initiative for Muller Martini. We realize that in these challenging times our customers are looking for forward thinking ideas to help them sustain their business and prepare for the future."

Printers and binderies now have the ability to integrate their MIS functions and their post-press machines in an open architecture environment utilizing a JDF/JMF digital file workflow. Information is electronically exchanged in real time, reducing or eliminating the need for costly manual intervention while also providing more accuracy, speed and productivity in job costing, planning, make-readies, reporting, throughput and many other aspects of production.

"HIFLEX and SoftSolutions are ideal complements to our machines and our workflow technologies, enabling Muller customers both present and future to optimize the profitability that our equipment has been engineered to deliver to their businesses," said Doug Stryker, Division Manager, Print Finishing Systems, Muller Martini. "And because this new digital solution is built on an open platform, a wide range of print finishing machines old, new and yet to come can utilize this workflow approach to share data and realize the substantial advantages of automation, making the most of return on equipment investment."